“The federal government has an established institutional framework for disaster preparedness, reduction, prevention, and response—mainly disaster assistance. However, concerns have been expressed about the nation’s increasing exposure and vulnerability to natural hazards. The rising cost of financing recovery and reconstruction following natural disasters, reports of the nation’s increasing vulnerability to coastal hazards, questions concerning the capacity of state and local governments and private insurers to deal with the rising costs, and disagreements concerning the appropriate role of the federal government in dealing with these costs have all become major topics of congressional debate. The financial consequences of catastrophic natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Sandy (2012), are largely a result of increasing population growth and the rising concentration of property assets in vulnerable disaster-prone areas. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Katrina caused more than $80 billion in economic losses (both insured and uninsured) to private property and infrastructure and, more recently, Hurricane Sandy caused more than $65 billion in economic losses. New York and New Jersey—two of the nation’s most populous states—were especially affected by Hurricane Sandy-induced storm surge and coastal flooding. Sandy also triggered a sustained and heightened policy interest in the potential effects of climate change and population growth on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the feasibility of innovative public-private sector catastrophe risk management and financing initiatives, and consideration of cost-effective and practical adaptation strategies to make society more financially resilient.”

CRS – Financial Disclosure by Federal Officials and Publication of Disclosure Reports, Jack Maskell, Legislative Attorney. August 22, 2013 “High-level officials in all three branches of the federal government are required to publicly disclose detailed information concerning their financial holdings and transactions in income-producing property and assets, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and real… Continue Reading

Via Steven Aftergood, testimony of director of the National Security Agency and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command: Information Technology and Cyber Operations: Modernization and Policy Issues to Support the Future Force, hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, March 13, 2013 (published July 2013). “Potential adversaries are demonstrating… Continue Reading

Bloomberg: “Hundreds of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers and examiners face new obstacles to cashing in on their agency experience under an expanded ethics rule to take effect in January. The change targets the practice of regulators moving to jobs at law firms and investment banks where they capitalize on their SEC relationships. The… Continue Reading

Spiegel Online International, Laura Poitras, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark: “The NSA documents seen by SPIEGEL also show that the US intelligence agency has managed to penetrate deeply into the UN. In June of last year, a report notes that the NSA had gained access to the UN’s internal teleconferencing system.”

FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) Users: Summary and Case Studies, written by Research Assistant Jeff Mixter and Consulting Project Manager Eric Childress, includes case studies of sixteen parties (nine adopters, seven non-adopters) in six countries that have expressed interest in FAST, as well as a profile of OCLC’s own use of FAST. Key highlights… Continue Reading

Home Broadband 2013 by Kathryn Zickuhr, Aaron Smith. August 26, 2013 “Some 70% of American adults ages 18 and older have a high-speed broadband connection at home as of May 2013, according to a nationally representative survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. The survey also found that 3% of American… Continue Reading

Katrina Stierholz – Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: “In the last few months, many new data series have been added to FRED. The OECD’s Main Economic Indicators are now on FRED, the latest Penn World Tables, more retail trade data. FRED now has 148,000 series from 59 sources and allows users to easily download… Continue Reading

“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently finalized the definition of the term “gluten-free” on food labels, which means all manufacturers that want to use that phrase on their products must adhere to strict guidelines. As stated by the FDA, the term gluten-free now refers to foods that are either inherently gluten-free or foods that… Continue Reading

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Sabrina is also the solo Editor, Publisher and Founder of LLRX.com® – Legal, technology and knowledge discovery resources on the “moving edge” for Librarians, Lawyers, Researchers, Academic and Public Interest Communities – launched in 1996.